It Started With
by IceKitty
Summary: Shadouge. ShadowRouge. Whatever you want to call it. I can't really think of a good summary.... Rating for freedom. Most likely won't go near T. Basically Rouge runs into Shadow at a park and things go from there....
1. Prologue: A Walk in the Park

Okay, first off… WOW! I'm actually writing again! Geez, it's been such a long time. Sorry to those of you who liked my other stories; for the time being I won't be updating them. HOWEVER, I am doing a little planning concerning them. For now, I shall try not to let this thing die. AHEM! Now then…. This is basically a sad, sad attempt at Shadouge. (ShadowxRouge) I absolutely LOVE this pairing, and find it very sad that there seems to be so little of it on the net. So, I would like to start by dedicating this fic to all my fellow Shadouge fans out there! Sadly, I have NO idea where I'm going with this, so I'm just really hoping my inspiration doesn't die halfway through….

Also, I have a request…. If anyone starts a new Shadouge story (considering I've read pretty much all of the ones I could find….) please, PLEASE tell me by any means necessary! I really hope someone reading this does; if they do and tell me about it, I'll be sure to review! Thank you, and on to the Shadougey goodness! HERE GOES NOTHIN'!

**Prologue:**

**A Walk in the Park**

Rouge was bored. Very bored. So bored, in fact, that even having all her precious gems stolen sounded like it would be an improvement. She had tried turning on the television, but nothing was on. Nothing except Barney, anyway. There was no way in heck she would watch that, even in this state of boredom. She _did_ have her pride to maintain.

And so it was that Rouge decided to do something rather un-Rouge-ly. Something that would, unbeknownst to her, have strange ramifications.

She decided to take a walk in the park.

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Rouge soon found herself on the edge of a rather small, quiet park on the edge of town. Nothing seemed particularly extraordinary about it. Little did she know, she would remember this place for years to come.

It was late afternoon, and already the air was becoming crisp and chilly. Rouge silently congratulated herself for being _so_ smart; she had brought along a jacket. It was pink, matching with her usual outfit as well as being, in her opinion, _quite_ stylish, despite its simplicity. Not to mention plenty warm. '_Ah yes, Rouge old gal, you're still as smart as ever._' This mental pat on the back occurred as she saw some much less intelligent people hurrying past on their way back to their homes, jacketless.

She grinned to herself and continued on her way. It was not long, however, until she spotted something that made her stop. '_Is that...? Yes, it has to be!' _"Shadow!" She hadn't seen her rather antisocial friend in a long time. Somehow she felt friend was not quite the word to describe their relationship, but shook off that thought as a rather surprised Shadow turned to see who had called his name.

His eyes widened. He hadn't seen Rouge in what felt like forever. He had been wanting to visit, but something always held him back. "Rouge…!" He said, his surprise evident in his voice. In a flash, the white bat was right in front of him.

"It's been so long! How have you been? Did you miss me?" Shadow opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately cut off. "Of _course_ you missed me." He sighed. That was Rouge, all right. "Come on, let's go talk back at my place!" Without waiting for a response, she grabbed his arm and away they went. Unbeknownst to either of them, five eyes just so happened to be watching.

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Well, pretty short…. But oh well. It WAS only the prologue. Please stay tuned for the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 1: A Visit

Whew…. Well, I was going to let this sit a while, but when I got a review before this thing had been on the site more than a few hours, I felt I should get writing again! Thanks a ton for the encouragement, MysticStarLegacy! GO READ HER STORIES!

**Chapter 1**

**A Visit**

"So, how HAVE you been?" Shadow was currently seated on the couch in the living room of Rouge's apartment, watching her carefully remove her wings from the holes she had cut in the back of her jacket and put said jacket in the closet. He, of course, was in his trademark arms-crossed, 'I'm-an-anti-hero' pose as he sat on the pink, cushy, and totally image ruining coach.

"Fine." was his monosyllabic and monotone reply. Rouge chuckled.

"You haven't changed a bit, Shadow." She stepped out of the closet, now jacket free. '_Yep, same old Shadow. You'd think he'd have opened up a bit more around me. He's more open with me than he seems to be with the others, but…. Honestly, I don't see why he wouldn't want to be friends with a gorgeous woman like me!_' In truth, she knew that they were already friends, but sometimes she couldn't help but wonder about their relationship.

She sat down on the couch next to him. He, as per usual, remained quiet. He just sat there, watching her like a hawk. "Done anything interesting lately?"

"No."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing." he responded. One would have expected to find some trace of annoyance in that deep voice of his, but even Rouge's sensitive ears could find none. He didn't seem to mind terribly that he had just been dragged halfway across town by a currently very chatty white bat. In truth, he was happy to see her. She and Omega were really the only people he felt close to.

Speaking of Omega…. "Rouge. Have you seen Omega since the three of us went our separate ways?"

"Oh! I can't believe I forgot to tell you! Omega! Get in here!" Shadow looked up at the doorway to the kitchen and took in a rather amusing sight.

"LIFEFORM DETECTED: SCANNING…." Omega paused for a second, and there was a small whirring noise. "SENSORS INDICATE LIFEFORM TO BE PROJECT:SHADOW. WELCOME."

"Omega…. What in the world are you wearing?" Shadow could not stop his voice from betraying his amusement. Completely filling the doorway was Omega, wearing, of all things, a pink, frilly apron. It was much too small for him, and the poor thing was hard-pressed to fit around his large form.

"SCANNING…. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY YOU FIND MY ATTIRE AMUSING. SENSORS INDICATE IT TO BE THE APPROPRIATE UNIFORM FOR FOOD PREPERATION." Despite the fact that he was a robot, Omega did seem to have some sense of pride, and that pride seemed to be wounded that Shadow had found his 'attire' to be so amusing. The robot's voice seemed a bit miffed as he spoke this and turned away to go back into the kitchen.

"As you can see, Omega here is staying with me. Sure beats doing all the chores myself." Rouge chuckled to herself. "Dinner should be ready soon. You'll stay, won't you?" Shadow was about to decline, but paused. He realized it would be… nice, to spend some time with his old friends. "Of course you will." Rouge answered for him.

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About an hour later, Rouge and Omega were watching Shadow wolf down his fifth plate of spaghetti. Omega had had to whip up another batch in an attempt to satisfy Shadow's seemingly insatiable appetite. "SENSORS INDICATE THAT IT IS PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR A LIFEFORM OF PROJECT:SHADOW'S SIZE AND BODY WEIGHT TO CONSUME THIS MUCH FOOD. QUERY: WHERE DOES HE PUT IT ALL?" Rouge blinked.

"I have no idea." Finally, Shadow sat back with a content sigh. "Shadow…. When was the last time you ate?"

"…." Shadow seemed a bit sheepish about this; or at least, as sheepish as HE could look. "…I don't remember."

"SCANNING…. WARNING: SENSORS INDICATE THAT PROJECT:SHADOW IS MALNOURISHED. QUERY: WHY?" Rouge's eyes narrowed at the black hedgehog across the table from her, who looked the other way with his arms folded.

"I'd like to know that, too." When Shadow did not speak, Rouge's eyes narrowed even further. "Shadow, where have you been staying?" Her tone was deadly, and Shadow knew better than to keep quiet.

"In the park." he replied, trying to sound nonchalant. He winced when Rouge jumped up, looking rather irritated and worried.

"WHAT? Oh, not anymore you're not! You're staying here." Shadow was about to protest, but Rouge continued. "It wouldn't do at all to have a friend of mine be seen living out in a park!" For some reason, she felt the need to cover up her concern with an excuse. "It would make me look bad." Again, Shadow was about to protest, but thought better of it. She was one scary bat when she was angry.

"But…. Where will I sleep…?" He made a feeble attempt at trying to reason with her. She already had an answer ready.

"You'll be sleeping on the coach until Omega finishes clearing out the spare room I've been using to keep my jewels in." Rouge replied smugly, grinning to herself. She mentally gave herself a high-five for being _so_ smart.

"QUERY: WHY DO I HAVE TO REMOVE YOUR POSSESIONS FROM THE ROOM?" The robot was silenced by a Glare of Doom.

"Because I said so."

Shadow watched the two, and because they were distracted with their quarrel, neither of them noticed his tiny smile and muttered, "Just like old times."

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Heehee! I like how this is turning out so far…. We'll see what I have planned for next chapter! I have a few basic ideas, but other than those, I'm pretty much making it up as I go along. I hope this thing is successful, and encourages all you out there to write more Shadouge for me to read!


	3. Chapter 2: A Dream

Wow…. Just plain _wow_…. After you guys seemed to like it so much (especially the part about the apron) I felt I had to update right away! Hehe…. Good thing I spent so much time thinking about it before I went to sleep. Thanks for the reviews, Shadouge-lover-4eva, Swedish Shadow Fan, Pitty, MysticStarLegacy, and Xeno the Hedgehog. Hehe…. It makes me feel nice that you guys all seem to like it. Yesh yesh…. Trying to keep them as in character as possible. ON TO THE STORY!

**Chapter 2**

**A Dream**

"_Hey dad, what the he-"_

"_Oooh! I'm gonna tell mom you were _cussing_!"_

"_What! No! Don't tell mom!"_

_Shadow's ears twitched slightly as he woke up. He was lying on the same couch he had fallen asleep on, but the room was quite different. It was bigger, for one, and for two, it was also occupied by a pair of squabbling children. One was a bit taller than the other and seemed to be a male bat. The younger and smaller one was a female hedgehog. Shadow blinked a couple times. They looked very familiar. It was then that he noticed that the bat had the exact same coloring as himself; black fur, red stripes, and a tuft of white fur. The only thing that seemed different was the fact that his eyes were the same color as-_

"_What's going on in here?" called a feminine voice. All three of them looked up at the doorway, one with a curious look, one with a look full of dread, and one with a triumphant look. The second Shadow saw who the voice belonged to, he very promptly fell off the couch in shock and woke up._

111End Dream11

Shadow sat up, rubbing his forehead where it had hit the ground. _That_ had been one _strange_ dream. If he understood it correctly, those had been _his_ kids. He'd never really expected to get married, especially not to-…. '_Well, okay, maybe I did expect it to be her, if anyone, but-_'

"Shadow, you okay in there?" Shadow looked up to see a rather sleepy looking Rouge peeking out of the door of her room. Behind her, he could see a little bit of the pink and purple furniture that dwelled within, most of which was adorned with some form of shiny gem. Rouge herself was, true to form, wearing a somewhat revealing purple nightgown.

"Just peachy." He got back on the couch.

"Good. Now be quiet! I need my beauty sleep. Not that I'm not _already_ beautiful." With that, followed by a little 'hmph', she shut the door behind her. Shadow sighed and attempted to go back to sleep.

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Urgh…. I apologize about the shortness, but I need to brainstorm a lil bit. See ya next chapter!


	4. Chapter 3: A Scare

Well, here we are again. Hehe…. Did a lil brainstorming, and decided to start writing, 'cause I have an idea of what I wanna do with this chapter now. So, here we go.

**Chapter 3**

**A Scare**

Shadow awoke to the sound of Omega working in the kitchen. He got off the couch a little stiff, but had had a pleasantly dream-free sleep. "Omega." The robot looked up to see the black hedgehog in the doorway.

"GOOD MORNING, PROJECT:SHADOW. I TRUST YOUR SLEEP CYCLES WERE PLEASANT." The robot was wearing the same pink, frilly apron as the evening before whilst working on making pancakes ten at a time, using both hands. He seemed to favor the stove over the rather disused looking microwave and toaster on the counter; they both seemed to be very dusty. Shadow gave a little nod and the robot continued to watch the warming pancakes diligently. Suddenly Shadow realized something was missing.

"Omega, where is Rouge?"

"I APOLOGIZE; MY MEMORY BANKS MUST NOT BE FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. ROUGE LEFT EARLY THIS MORNING. SHE LEFT A MESSAGE FOR YOU. ACCESSING…."

"Hey Shadow." Omega had apparently recorded the message, because it was in Rouge's voice. "I got called in to work this morning before you woke up. I should be back later. You be good now!" This was followed by a giggle, and Shadow could practically hear her wink, like he knew she would.

"Thank you, Omega. Did she say exactly when she would be back?"

"NEGATIVE." The pancakes were starting to get a tiny bit overcooked on one side.

"Then when did she leave?" Shadow began eyeing the pancakes that had started to smell slightly burnt.

"IF MY MEMORY BANKS ARE NO LONGER MALFUNCTIONING, I BELIEVE THE TIME WAS ABOUT 6:50 A.M. THE CURRENT TIME IS 9:56 A.M." The pancakes were really brown now.

"Omega…."

"YES?"

"The pancakes are burning."

111About an Hour and Many Burnt Pancakes Later111

"QUERY: SHADOW, WERE THE PANCAKES TO YOUR SATISFACTION?" asked Omega as he picked up the now completely empty plates and put them in the dishwasher. Omega considered himself _far_ more efficient than the dishwasher, but for today, he had other things to do than wash dishes.

"A little burnt, but other than that, they were fine." Shadow was making an attempt to be polite; they had been more than a little burnt.

"I AM GLAD." The apron that the robot had been wearing before was hung on one of the five pegs that were attached to the wall near the doorway to the living room. The poor thing was stretched out so far that looked big enough to be a rather small bed sheet. On the peg next to it was a similar apron; it, too, was pink and frilly, but had 'Kiss the Cook' written on it. Since it was not stretched out, Shadow assumed it to Rouge's. The other three pegs were empty.

"Say, Omega, when do you think Rouge will be back?"

"I ESTIMATE HER RETURN TIME TO BE SOME TIME IN THE LATE EVENING. QUERY: WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?" Omega's voice sounded slightly suspicious.

"No reason."

"SENSORS INDICATE ELEVATED WARMTH IN LIFEFORM SHADOW'S FACIAL REGION. QUERY: ARE YOU EXPERIENCING THE EMOTION THAT IS REFERRED TO AS 'EMBARASSMENT'?"

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Shadow, lacking anything better to do, had decided to help Omega sort through and prepare Rouge's precious gems for moving from the spare room. They all had to be carefully packaged so that none of them would be scratched. This meant, of course, that they would need to be individually wrapped, and there were certainly a lot of them. When they had come in, Shadow had been forced to shield his eyes at the sheer shininess of them all. Now, hours later, the room was considerably less blinding, but they were not even half finished. By now, Shadow's stomach was growling, and Omega decided it was time for them both to have dinner; steak for Shadow, a refueling for himself.

By the time dinner was over, Shadow was getting a bit anxious. "QUERY: SHADOW, WHY ARE YOU TAPPING YOUR FINGERS ON THE TABLE WITH SO MUCH FORCE?"

"Hm? Oh." Shadow stopped the tapping, only to resume it in a few moments. "Omega, what time is it?"

"THE CURRENT TIME IS 10:53 P.M. PERHAPS MY ESTIMATION OF ROUGE'S ARRIVAL TIME WAS INCORRECT."

"I think I'm going to go look for her." Shadow could not help but do so; he had a bad feeling about this.

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Things had been going well for Rouge. She had successfully completed a mission and received a hefty pay check, not to mention getting off work early. She had cashed the check and was hoping to make it home in time for dinner when her sensitive ears picked up some odd footsteps. She couldn't quite place what was odd about them, only that something wasn't right and that they seemed to be following her. Silently cursing the fact that the streets were pretty much empty at the moment, most people being in the middle of dinner at the moment, she picked up her pace. The footsteps followed, but their owner was always out of sight.

Finally giving up on walking, Rouge took off into the air and landed on top of a building above. She looked down at the ground, but could not see anyone. She flew back down and continued her walking, reassured. But the second she turned the corner, she could hear the footsteps again. Getting slightly panicked, she began to walk faster and then break into a run. Not looking where she was going, she accidentally turned down a dead end alley. "Great…." She turned to go, but stopped. She saw a shadow on the ground, cast by something standing near the opening of the alley. He gaze followed the shadow to its source, but saw nothing except the flickering street lamp that allowed whatever it was to cast the shadow. Whatever it was seemed to be advancing and she took off into the air, flying over its head and down the street a ways, scared out of her wits.

When she finally landed, she was almost back to her apartment. She looked both ways and then breathed a sigh of relief. Then she turned the corner and screamed as she bumped into someone. "Rouge…!" said the someone as he grabbed her arms.

Rouge stopped her scream and blinked. "Shadow!" To his surprise, she hugged him. This, of course, made his cheeks turn bright red. Realizing what she was doing, Rouge cleared her throat and let him go.

Shadow cleared his throat as well and tried to suppress the blush. "What was _that_ for?"

Rouge was embarrassed, to say the least, but decided to cover it up. "Just happy to see you, that's all." She winked at him, and he found it harder to hold down the blush.

"I thought you'd be happy to be hugged by a _gorgeous_ woman like me. Now let's get inside before we both freeze to death."

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Well…. I think this is a good place to end the chapter! Heh…. This one was a quarter of the way decent size. Meh, I need to work on making these chapters longer. Oh well. See you next chapter!


	5. Chapter 4: A Question

Hehe…. Thanks again to all the reviewers! Love y'all to bits. S'very very encouraging.

**Chapter 4**

**A Question**

"QUERY: ROUGE, WHY ARE YOU COMING HOME SO LATE?" Omega asked the moment Shadow and Rouge came in the door. Rouge waved a hand as though to wave the question away.

"Nothing. Just thought I'd stay out late is all. Any dinner left?" Rouge was, somewhat conspicuously, trying to change the subject. Shadow spotted this and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Rouge…. What happened? There's something you're not telling us." The white bat looked the other way, avoiding eye contact.

"I told you, it was nothing. I just decided to stay out late. Omega, how about dinner? I'm hungry." Her attempts to distract them were getting a little desperate sounding. '_If I tell them what happened, they'll just think I'm crazy. I can't have that._' She made for the kitchen and Shadow did not stop her, as much as he wanted to. Instead, he watched her until she was out of sight, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Omega followed after, pretending that he hadn't noticed anything strange about her behavior.

"I'm going to sleep." Shadow lay down on the couch and shut his eyes, but was really listening carefully to Rouge and Omega.

"'Night Shadow."

"GOOD NIGHT."

Rouge sat down in the chair with a heavy sigh and rested her forehead in her hand, her elbow on the table. "QUERY: ROUGE, WHAT HAPPENED?" This was met with a small, irritated growl.

"I told you, NOTHING HAPPENED!"

"SENSORS DETECT ELEVATED HEART RATE. QUERY: WHY ARE YOU LYING?"

"…Forget this. I'm going to bed." Rouge let out a little 'hmph' and stood, not bothering to push in her chair before going off towards her room, her footsteps a little heavier than necessary. Omega just watched her leave and began to put away the dishes. Unbeknownst to Rouge, a pair of red eyes watched her enter her room and shut the door a little harder than absolutely necessary. The owner of the eyes frowned and turned over, closing them and attempting to go to sleep.

These attempts were rather fruitless, as Shadow's mind was plagued with questions. Long after Omega had gone to his little broom closet to go into sleep mode, Shadow tossed and turned, unable to sleep. '_What was bothering Rouge? I'll bet my quills she wasn't just 'happy to see me'. What is it she's not telling me? More importantly, why in the world did she _hug _me?' _Some part of him in the back of his mind decided to chime in. '**_Not that you didn't like it._**' He opened his eyes; keeping them closed wasn't helping anything anyway. '_I did, didn't I? It made me feel… warm inside. What was that feeling? Oh well…. I'll ask Omega or Rouge about it in the morning. One of them will know._'

111A/N111

Hehe! Shadow can be so naive sometimes. Or at least, I made him that way. XD

111/A/N111

111Morning111

Shadow's eyes opened slowly and he sat up. He had finally gotten to sleep, but still didn't feel rested. "GOOD MORNING."

"Morning Omega." This was followed up by a yawn that revealed his pointy little teeth. He looked over at the door to Rouge's room as it clicked open. Rouge came out in all her early morning glory; she had already put on her make-up, but she still looked very tired and more than a little irritable. Shadow decided to put off questioning her until later. It was then that he noticed something odd. There was a strange warm feeling in his chest that hadn't been there before. '_What's going on? I really have to ask Omega about this._'

Shadow was about to go into the kitchen to see what was for breakfast when the phone rang. "Oh, what _now_?" exclaimed a rather irritated sounding Rouge. She was _not_ a morning person. There was a click as the phone was picked up. "Hello, Rouge the Bat speaking." There was the sound of someone speaking on the other end of the line, but from where he was, even Shadow's sensitive ears couldn't decipher what the person was saying. "What? But I just- …. …Fine. I'll be there in a few." She set the phone down. "I've got another assignment. I'll be back later." She snatched a bit of toast off the plate Omega offered and headed for her room to change into her regular outfit, but Shadow was in her way. She blinked a few times. "Shadow, ged oud uff my way!" She was muffled by the toast in her mouth.

"Oh, sorry." He stepped out of the way. '_What was I thinking, just standing there staring like that?_' He mentally smacked himself in the head. He _really_ needed to talk to Omega.

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Heh…. Well, no time to write anymore. Gonna get sent to be any minute. Meh…. Sorry for the shortness and cya next chapter!


	6. Chapter 5: A Malfunction

Hi again y'all. I realize Omega may seem a lil OOC, but it's unintentional…. As for a few comments made about certain things, 1. The part about the toaster and microwave being disused were intended to show that Omega was a bit full of himself and did not use them _period_, not just not using them for pancakes. He thought he could cook better without them. 2. The reason Shadow wanted to talk to Omega about how he was feeling was because he thinks Omega might have something about it in his data banks; not because Omega had felt it before, but because he might have data on it. (Apparently Shadow doesn't recognize it as a particular emotion or feeling just yet. P) Erm…. So…. I hope that cleared up some things. :X Here we go again….

**Chapter 5**

**A Malfunction**

"Omega." There was a tiny sound of metal on metal as the robot looked up from the pancakes cooking in front of him. After the previous day's failure, the robot had decided to concentrate more on his cooking.

"YES?" Realizing his error, the robot immediately returned his attention to the pancakes.

"Omega, I have a… question you may be able to help me with."

"WHAT IS IT? I WILL DO MY BEST TO BE OF ASSISTANCE."

"Well," Shadow paused for a second, trying to find the words. "I-" He stopped as the door to Rouge's room opened and closed as she made her way out.

"C'ya boys. I'll be back late, so don't wait up, okay?" She sent them a wink and continued on her way. Shadow held his question until she had left and he could no longer hear her footsteps.

"WHY THE HESITATION?"

"Nothing. It's just…. I've got this feeling, right here…." He placed a hand over the white tuft of fur on his chest. "I'm not sure what it is."

"SCANNING…. SENSORS DETECT NOTHING IR-R-R-REGULAR."

"…Omega, did you just stutter?"

"OF C-C-C-COURSE NOT."

"There, you did it again." Shadow could not help but be a little smug.

"THAT'S R-R-R-R-RIDICULOUS." The pancakes were starting to smell a little toasty.

"Really, Omega, you are."

"I A-A-A-AM N-N-N-NOT. SENSORS DETECT NO A-A-A-ABNORMALITIES IN MY V-V-V-V-V-VOICE S-S-SYSTEM."

"Omega, run a full systems check. That's an _order_."

"I-I-I-I'M T-T-T-TELLING Y-Y-Y-YOU, N-N-NOTHING IS-" He paused. If had been created with eyelids, he would have blinked. "WARNING: S-S-S-SYSTEM ERROR D-D-D-DETECTED." By now, the pancakes were getting really dark. "I AP-P-P-POLOGIZE. I M-M-MUST REMAIN I-I-I-INACTIVE FOR THE R-R-REMAINDER OF THE DAY TO M-M-MAKE R-REPAIRS." With that, the robot seemed to forget the pancakes as he walked off towards his broom closet, hitting the wall once or twice and shaking as he went.

Shadow sighed and was about to go back to the spare room to continue cleaning it out when he smelt something. He blinked a few times before cursing very loudly and snatching the pancakes and griddle from the stove.

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As for Rouge's day, it was pretty successful by her standards. Another mission complete, another precious gem to add to her collection. Sure it took most of the day, but it was worth it. She walked along the dark street, humming a tune to herself. Most people would feel a little uncomfortable being alone outside at night, but being a bat, she really didn't have a problem with it. She was so busy humming, she didn't hear the all too familiar footsteps following behind her until it was too late.

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I realize it was short, but it was short for a _reason…_ MWUAHAHAHAHAHA! CLIFF HANGER! XD I laugh at your sufferiiiiiiing…. Heehee! Thanks again for the reviews, and tune in next time to see what becomes of our favorite little white bat.


	7. Chapter 6: Secret Title

Yesh, yesh, I am evil. XD Thankies for the reviews. Ahhh…. I should leave cliff hangers _much_ more often. Now…. I'm gonna stall a little bit before I tell you what happens to Rouge…. Now excuse me while I go laugh maniacally in the corner. Oh, and I will not be titling this chapter because it would give away a lil too much if I titled it after what the chapter covered, like with the others…. Being evil is so much fun. :D

**Chapter 6**

**Secret Title**

Shadow awoke with a start. What time was it? He quickly glanced at the clock and cursed rather loudly. He had spent most of the previous day cleaning out the spare room without Omega, and did manage to get _something_ done. The room was about 3/5s empty by now. However, when he had stopped to take a break and looked at the time, it was already 10:30 p.m., and Rouge had not returned home. Having gotten worried, he was determined to stay awake all night if need be. He reasoned that he had few friends, and so had to take good care of the ones he had. Apparently he had fallen asleep, awakening at 6:01 a.m.

He stood and paused for a moment, listening. He couldn't hear any movement. Omega seemed to still be busy making repairs, but what about Rouge? Her door was closed. Shadow walked up to it and reached for the handle, but paused. If she caught him peeking into her room, it was pretty much a sure thing he would get slapped for it, and that did not sound pleasant. But if she really wasn't there…. He decided to risk it. He opened the door and peeked in. No Rouge in sight. He frowned and closed the door a little harder than necessary.

"Where is she?" This question was asked of thin air, and of course it did not respond. '_Relax, Shadow. She probably just… had a really hard mission. Yeah. No need to worry._' he told himself. He sat down in the chair he had been using for the past few days and now considered 'his chair'. Almost immediately his stomach growled, as if sensing that there should have been food sitting on the table in front of him. Having nothing better to do, he rested his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. Yet still he could not relax. That feeling from the day before came back tenfold. '_But what if I SHOULD be worrying?_'

111And the Moment You've All Been Waiting For….11

The first thing Rouge heard as she began to drift into consciousness was the hum of a very large engine. Her sensitive ears twitched at the sound, and she furrowed her brow slightly. What was an engine doing in her bedroom? The next thing that occurred to her was the splitting headache she had. She let out a little hiss of pain and sat up, placing a hand to her throbbing head. She started to open her eyes and then shut them again. Too bright. '_Do I have a hangover or something?_'

"Ah, I see you're awake." That voice was familiar. _Too_ familiar. Rouge's eyes opened all the way, and after she blinked a couple times, she was able to see that her guess had been correct; in front of her was Eggman, looking very smug. They seemed to be on some sort of ship; the bat could see the sky through a large window behind him.

"What's going on!" It was then that she noticed her own face, dimly reflected in front of her. Looking around, she realized that she seemed to be in some kind of glass tube. "Let me out of here this instant!" The human just chuckled.

"I think not."

"What do you want with me! I don't have any Chaos Emeralds!"

Dr. Eggman just chuckled again. "I'm afraid that's not what I'm after this time. You see, I've found having powerful allies to be _quite _useful. So-" Rouge cut him off.

"There's no _way_ I'm helping you again." She crossed her arms and let out a little, defiant 'hmph.'

"Let me finish! So, I kidnapped you because, well…. I've been watching out dear friend Shadow for quite some time now, and I've finally found a way to get to him. That's _you_, my dear. You see, I've found that our favorite little hedgehog is very… _protective_, shall we say, of you. So, me being the genius that I am, decided to use you to get to him."

Rouge was quiet for a moment. Then, she scoffed and said, "And you, being the _genius_ that you are, just told me everything. When I get out of here, I'll-" '_Wait, what can I do? I can't just make Shadow stop caring about me…. I'm just too loveable for my own good!_'

"But the thing is that you _won't _be getting out. Have fun in your little cell." With that, he turned off the intercom. Now, even with her sensitive ears, Rouge could hear nothing through the thick glass. As Eggman turned away, she attempted a little kick against the glass to test its strength. The second her toe hit it, she decided that had been a _very _bad idea. She sat down, holding her throbbing foot. As she watched the monotonous scenery of the sky go by, she could not help but think this; '_I hope Eggman put air holes in this thing_….'

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Giving up on patience, Shadow stood and went to Omega's closet. He opened the door and stared at the apparently off-line robot inside. "Omega." At this, the robot stirred and looked up.

"YES?"

"Are your repairs complete?"

"N-N-N-NEGATIVE. THE DAMAGE WAS M-M-MORE E-EXTENSIVE THA-A-AN ORIGINALLY T-T-THOUGHT. I B-B-BELIEVE IT WAS The L-L-LIGHTNING S-STORM L-LAST W-WEEK. I WAS S-STRUCK B-BY LIGHTNING W-WHILE O-O-O-O-O-" he seemed to have trouble continuing the word. Shadow gave him a little kick, and that seemed to get the rest of the word out. "O-OUTSIDE."

"Continue your repairs then. I'm going out." Without waiting for a response, Shadow shut the door and practically ran out the door, consumed by a sense of urgency.

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It had been about three hours, and Shadow had found out only one thing; no one had seen Rouge. Getting frustrated, he skated along the road, headed towards the park to think. He still had to track down Sonic, but he didn't much enjoy that thought. Most times he met with the other insanely fast hedgehog, they didn't _quite_ get along. Luckily, he didn't have to look. "Hey Shadow!" Shadow skidded to a stop and looked back to see Sonic coming his way.

'_Oh great. It's him.'_

"Hey, Shadow! Long time no see. I'd challenge you to a race, but I'm on my way to check on something. Eggman's been spotted again. Know anything about it?"

"No." Shadow paused to think a moment. If no one had seen Rouge, then maybe the doctor had something to do with it. "…I'm coming with you."

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Dr. Eggman could not help but laugh out loud that his plan was going so well. "He's already on his way, and I didn't even have to send an invitation! Everything is falling into place perfectly."

Rouge couldn't hear what he was saying, but she knew it wasn't good. If he was looking that happy, something had to be going his way. Her ears drooped slightly as she sat there, utterly frustrated at her own helplessness. '_Shadow…._'

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Sorry, gots to end this now. Cya next chapter!


	8. Chapter 7: A Search

Urgh…. Well, finals are this week, so I might be a _bit _slow with the next chapter…. Ahem. Onwards!

**Chapter 7**

**A Search**

"Where did you say the ship was last sighted?" Shadow wanted to make absolutely sure he had heard his blue counterpart over the rush of the wind in their ears. They were currently on their way towards where Sonic had heard Eggman's airship had last been sighted. As usual, they were both running at insanely fast speeds. Even in this times like these, they were competitive.

"It SHOULD be right over this-" Sonic skidded to a stop on the edge of a large hill. "Woah. THAT is BIG." Looming on the horizon in front of them was an enormous ship, painted in Eggman's usual, die-hard style. Compared Eggman's usual ships, however, this thing was HUGE! Not only that, but it seemed to be lacking any kind of fleet surrounding it; it was the only ship there. Large as it was, it was going at a pretty good speed, heading away from them.

"Stop gawking and get moving." Undaunted, Shadow ran off ahead after the ship, followed soon after by a still skyward staring Sonic.

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Rouge's train of thought jolted to a stop as the airship gave a similar jolt. She looked around suspiciously. Just before the window before her closed, she caught a glimpse of landscape disappearing as the ship lowered itself into some kind of underground landing area. After that, the metal covers of the windows slid shut, allowing no view whatsoever. "Welcome to my base, my dear." Rouge almost jumped; she hadn't seen Eggman put his hand on the intercom button and so was surprised to hear him. "I hope you find your stay to be… pleasant." She could hear him snigger to himself as he took his hand off the intercom button. She gave him a Glare of Doom, but it only served to make him laugh harder.

Next thing the bat knew, she was feeling her stomach lurch as the glass tube she was in shot downwards, taking her to a place below the ship. Now she could see where they had landed. As the tube opened and she was dragged off by some of Eggman's robots, she took careful mental notes of the landing area around her. It seemed to be underground, and was quite large. '_I wonder how long it took him to build this place…. He must have been planning this a long time._' Finally she was dragged into a hallway, the door shutting behind her and her robot guards and obscuring the landing area from view.

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Shadow cursed loudly as he saw the ship disappearing from view. For a moment he thought they'd lost it, but suddenly it stopped and landed. He would have breathed a sigh of relief, had he had any breath to spare. "Hurry up."

"I AM hurrying! Geez Shadow, when'd you get so fast?" Shadow hadn't really noticed his own increased speed until then. Deciding to ignore it, he had a little fun insulting his companion instead.

"I'm not any faster. You're just getting slow."

"Ha ha, very funny. But really, what have you been eating?" Shadow did not answer because he was in the middle of skidding to a stop in front of a large metal panel in the ground. It was even bigger than the ship. Sonic almost ran into him, skidding to a stop just in time. "Hey, what's-" Sonic looked down and immediately shut up. "Oh. I guess that's where the ship went, then."

"What was your first clue?"

"Cut the sarcasm. Let's just find a way in."

Shadow was already way ahead of him.

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Rouge sighed from her place in the corner of the small cell that was to be her room for the time being. She was _bored_, dangit. "Well, enough playing damsel in distress. Time to bust out of here." She pulled a lock pick out of her boot and got to work on the lock of the traditional and yet horribly out-dated cell door, again mentally praising her own intelligence whilst wondering why Eggman always overlooked building decent prisoner holding facilities.

"Stupid Shadow. The least he could do is hurry up with saving me."

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Meanwhile, the 'stupid' hedgehog and his companion ran down a small passageway with a downwards tilt. "You know Shadow, I think this is all too convenient. I think it's a trap!"

"You just now realized that?" Shadow was becoming increasingly fond of sarcasm. "Of course it is." He rolled his eyes, not slowing his pace. After traveling a long time with no sound but the swishing of the air in their ears, the two finally came to a door.

"Ready Shadow?"

Shadow did not respond; he was already opening the door. The two dashed out, expecting a large ambush. To their surprise, they found nothing but a _very_ empty landing area. Empty, that is, except for the huge ship in the middle, but that didn't count; it wasn't moving or trying to attack them.

"Huh. Eggman's really off his game today."

"That just makes it all the easier for us to pay the good doctor a surprise visit."

"Well, which way do we go now?" There were two ways out; one to their right and one to their left.

"It seems the doctor wants us to split up."

"It looks like we'll have to play his way… for now. You go left, I'll go right. Good luck Shadow." Without waiting for a response, Sonic dashed off to the right.

"Heh. He's going to get himself killed one of these days." That said, Shadow headed off to the left to investigate this 'empty' base.

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Heh…. Sorry for the short, boring chapter. I think the next one should be a bit better. C'ya guys next chapter, and thanks for the 28 (WOW!) reviews.


	9. Chapter 8: An Escape

Whew…. Terribly sorry for the wait. Between finals and this horrid cold…. When I actually had time to write, I was feeling too miserable to write anything good. Sooooorrry... Eheh…. ON TO THE SHADOUGEY GOODNESS! Oh, and to all my reviewers…. LOVE YA!

Chapter 8

An Escape

"Ahah!" This exclamation was made by a certain white bat as she finally managed to pick the crude lock on the cell door. '_Honestly, what was that man thinking? You'd think he'd know by now that he should put me in something stronger than a decrepit old jail cell like that. Unless… he wanted me to get out. Better be on my guard._' With that thought, Rouge headed off down the hall the way she had come, keeping her eyes and ears open.

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Shadow was getting frustrated. _Very_ frustrated. This was the seventh passageway he'd been down that lead to a dead end, and he had yet to find any robots to take out his frustration on. He turned to go but stopped short when he nearly ran into a wall that hadn't been there before. "What the…!" After collecting his wits, Shadow turned to find that another passageway had opened up. '_I see…. The walls in this place move. I wonder where the good doctor is leading me…. I guess I have no choice but to find out.'_ Looking up, the black hedgehog spotted a camera up near the ceiling, pointing his direction. He smirked at it, not intimidated by the fact that Eggman was watching his every move. "If you can hear me doctor…. I'm ready for anything you can dish out." That said, he jumped up and homing attacked the camera, destroying it.

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Eggman watched the screen in front of him with a slight, evil grin. He'd expected that of Shadow. He gave an evil little chuckle. "Things are falling into place perfectly…." His gaze shifted to another screen, where a certain white bat was making her way down a metal passageway.

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"I'm going in circles!" Rouge growled. By now she had realized that there was no need for caution; this place was dead empty. She would have kicked the wall to vent her frustration, but she had already learned that that was a bad idea. Suddenly another path opened up to her left. "Finally!" She immediately ran down it, throwing caution to the wind. She regretted this very, very quickly.

The white bat skidded to a stop just in time to avoid falling into a deep, dark pit. She had turned the corner and nearly fallen in. It seemed to be another dead end. After peering down into the darkness for a few moments, she turned to leave, only to find that the way she had come had been blocked off. "Great."

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Sonic was having similar trouble. "Where does this stupid thing lead!" He, being much less patient than the other two, had vented his frustration on the wall multiple times, and had received a painful throbbing in his toes as a reward. "Another dead end! What is Eggman trying to do, make us all go insane!" He turned to go back, only to find himself trapped by another wall moving in front of him. "Wonderful."

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"Doctor!" Eggman turned to see Shadow standing in the doorway. "I knew you were behind this. Let us out, or-"

"Or you'll what, Shadow?" Shadow had a strong urge to rip that smug look right off of Eggman's face.

"CHAOS BL-"

"Ah ah ah, Shadow." Eggman pointed up to a large screen in front of him. For a few seconds it was blank, but then an image flashed onto the screen that made Shadow stop short.

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Rouge sighed for the tenth time in five minutes as she sat on the little platform she had walked out onto. She was considering flying down into the pit to see just how far it went when her sensitive ears picked up a distant sound. Curious, she carefully advanced to the edge of the pit and looked down.

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"What are you going to do with her?" Shadow was understandably angry. Eggman simply chuckled.

"You'll see in just a moment." Shadow watched the screen with a feeling of dread overwhelming him.

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Normally, I wouldn't end it this short. BUT! CLIFFHANGER! SUUUUFFFFEEEEER! XD Have fun suffering while I brainstorm about the next chapter. Oh yes, and I've got a little Valentine's Day Shadouge one-shot in the works…. Still in the planning stages. I hope to get it done it time for Valentine's Day. Wish me luck. XD


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